The king of gods was an imposing figure on his good days. When he was angry, which admittedly was not that uncommon, he was nothing short of terrifying. For the sake of the Athenians, Stoick did not appear in his full god form. Despite that, they could not ignore the feeling of primal fear coursing through their veins. Mortals were not meant to witness such divine wrath. Even few immortals were comfortable being in this situation. Luckily, Dagur had always prided himself on being irregular. He did not know why seeing the lightning god so annoyed made him grin. Perhaps, it was his affinity for war. Whenever Dagur saw someone angry because of him, he felt powered by it. His expression only made Stoick's temper flare more.

"Well?" the king questioned. "Explain yourself."

"I already told you," Dagur stated. "My friends were in danger."

Stoick's eyes shifted to the cousins. They were still huddled by their animals.

"They look fine to me."

"Yeah, now. The dark-haired one got killed."

Stoick's attention returned to the war god completely. His gaze somehow managed to become harsher.

"I know. You went to Hades and demanded that he release the soul."

"Demand is a strong word."

"You were going to fight Charon."

"In my defense, that guy sucks and has always hated me. He was probably going to start the fight." Dagur grinned wider. "I just didn't mind finishing it."

"You're not taking this seriously," Stoick growled. "You have no respect for rules, my authority, and certainly none for Mount Olympus."

The god's voice crackled like lightning and was carried through the wind. It was loud in the mortals' ears. They began to get nervous for their friend. They did not want him to be smote.

"That's not true," Hiccup called out.

Stoick looked at the group. Hesitantly, Hiccup went out from under Toothless's wing. Snotlout joined him. It was still difficult to look at the god even in his physical form with all the lighting around him, but they did their best. The duo bowed their heads.

"Mighty Zeus," Hiccup said, "Ares does respect your kingdom. It might seem like he opposed the natural order, but I swear that he's been trying to keep balance in the world. That's why we've been working together."

Out of caution, he did not elaborate. Regardless, he needed the larger god to know that there was no threat in their team. They all generally wanted the same thing.

"He's a war god," Stoick stated. "He doesn't even help just one side. It's in his nature to be violent and deceitful—whatever it takes to cause more destruction."

"But he's not really like that," Snotlout protested.

"You don't know Ares. You've been around him for less than a year. I've known him for centuries."

"We might not have known him for long," Hiccup admitted, "but we trust him. He put himself at risk for our lives when he didn't have to. We're sure that you want order restored, but smiting Ares won't do that."

Stoick eyed him, gaze somewhere between annoyed and curious. "He left my meeting. I can't forget about that. Even if I ignore the fiasco in the Underworld, everyone was there for the meeting. It would undermine my authority if I didn't do anything."

"Then let him prove himself!" Snotlout suggested. A bright smile was on his face, then he lowered his head again. "If you think that'll be a good idea, Your Immortal Highness."

Stoick looked at the other god. He could not deny that he had found the immortal's recent activity to be strange at best, confounding at worst. Maybe there was more to the story…or maybe he was just being himself and consequently bizarre.

"Prove that you aren't the same god who'd start bloody battles in villages for fun," the king said.

Dagur was not entirely sure how to do that. Stoick saw this and reluctantly offered aid.

"Go to Nemea. They've been having problems there lately. I've never seen you do any of these so-called 'good deeds,' so we'll change that. I want to see you stop a threat myself. If you can do that, I'll reconsider what you've done."

Saying nothing else, Stoick vanished back into the clouds. The cousins crept forward, half-expecting him to throw a bolt of lightning at someone.

"Is he…gone?" Snotlout asked.

"Nope. He's watching us like he said he would. He's just doing it from afar."

"So, I guess we're going to Nemea?" Hiccup inquired. "Are you even feeling up to a trip right now?"

Dagur was about to say that he would have to be, but Sleuther used his tail to put the war god on his back. The redhead began to laugh, petting his head.

"I guess Strykie will give me a ride this time. It might be nice to finally not be the ride-giver. You both like to pull feathers when you're stressed."

Snotlout looked over at Hookfang. "Do I?"

The Phoenix blew a small flame at him as an answer. Hiccup suddenly felt very glad that he could hold onto a saddle as opposed to the winged horse's mane. Refocusing, he looked at the god and chimera.

"Spitelout will still be on guard anyway. Let's get some supplies to bring with us and head out."

He and Snotlout hurried back to their home. The warrior informed his father of their plans and before long, the team was back in the sky. Nemea was a new land to the cousins. They were not sure if they should have been excited or worried.

"Have you ever been to Nemea?" Snotlout asked.

"Once or twice," Dagur answered. "It was a little boring to me, but that was back in the days when I did stuff like you heard Zeus say."

Hiccup's eyes widened in surprise. "You'd really start wars in villages just for fun?"

Dagur shrugged. "Can't say I'm too proud of it, but things are different for gods. When you're not around mortals, you don't think about what it's like."

He looked ahead of them, not wanting to see the cousins' faces. They would probably think he was a monster for that.

"It's different when you see what wars like those do to people," he admitted.

"What changed?" Snotlout inquired.

"I got bored again. There are only so many wars you can watch before they all start seeming the same. It made me want to spy on a few soldiers and see what their lives were like. I don't think they ever knew I was around, so it was different than it is with you guys, but it was still interesting."

The cousins were quiet as they flew. It was easy for them to think that wars were bloody, but they were mortal. Maybe things would have been different if they were gods too. Maybe such power was intoxicating and it was rare to not let it consume one's thoughts, poisoning actions until everyone got hurt. Thinking like that, they felt fortunate to have gotten to know an immortal who did not want to abuse his power. Thoughts of this did not last for long when Dagur started pointing downwards.

"We're here."

They landed, wondering where everyone was. It was clear that Nemea was not abandoned, but it was silent. The lack of sculptures proved another gorgon to not be the issue. Cautiously, the heroes began to walk around. Hopefully, they could find clues. Snotlout turned when he heard a door creak open. As soon as he did, he heard a gasp. Someone ran out of the home.

"You're Heracles and Daedalus!" she cried. "I recognized you because of your Pegasus and Phoenix. Everybody! The heroes of Athens are going to help us!"

Instantly, more people gathered. They crowded around the heroes, grinning.

"We were praying that you'd be sent!" someone exclaimed.

"Our prayers have been answered!"

"This awful lion will kill us if it gets the chance!"

"But we know it won't get that now."

Snotlout smiled at them. "You're right," he said proudly. "We'll keep everyone safe."

"Where have you been seeing the Nemean lion?" Hiccup asked.

"He just shows up. We never know when he'll be here or which side he'll enter."

Hiccup tapped his chin thoughtfully. "It'll probably be better if you all go back home then. Just for now, so we'll know none of you are in danger."

The group eagerly nodded and began to return. Snotlout watched them go, smile growing wider.

"We have fans!" he said in a harsh whisper.

The warrior let out a quiet squeal of excitement. Hiccup chuckled and could not deny to himself that he also enjoyed this. It was pleasant to be so welcomed somewhere. Of course, it also came with pressure.

"How do you want to find it?" Hiccup asked, looking around. "We probably shouldn't just wait for it to attack."

Sleuther let out a roar and Dagur grinned. "Strykie can help. He's one-third lion anyway. Who better to find one?"

In agreement, the group began to follow the chimera. Along the way, Snotlout grinned.

"This should be easy."

"What makes you say that?" Hiccup asked.

"It's just a lion. We've had to deal with monsters and armies. Now, we're going against one lion?" Snotlout scoffed. "I already wear one of those."

"It can't be a normal lion," Dagur stated. "Zeus wouldn't have sent us after it."

"So…what? Another hybrid?"

"Can't be that either," the inventor added. "The people would've mentioned it if the lion was a combination of other animals."

That made sense to Snotlout, but he was still curious what they might have to fight. He realized that he would discover the creature's identity soon because Sleuther stopped walking. His fangs bared and he began to snarl, snout facing a forest. Toothless's ears perked up as he started to look behind them. Before he or the others could respond, a lion leapt out from the brush. Snotlout charged forward, swinging with his ax. He managed to get the beast in the shoulder. He did not manage to draw any blood. The boy's eyes widened in shock.

"Uh, guys," he said, "this thing is ax-proof."

The Nemean lion growled at him, using a paw to swipe him away. Snotlout was flung into the air and Hookfang caught him on his back.

"Is it invincible?"

"Shouldn't be," Dagur said, frowning in thought. "At least I don't think so."

"That's not helping!"

"I told you that I haven't been here in a while!"

"But you didn't remember an indestructible lion?"

"He wasn't born yet!"

"Guys," Hiccup interjected, flying to safety on Toothless's saddle, "this is also not helping. We know that the lion can't be cut. Maybe he can get knocked out."

Dagur was about to volunteer, but the cousins shook their heads.

"You're still not back to full strength yet," Hiccup reminded him. "We don't want to do anything to slow it down." He looked at Snotlout and frowned. "And we just got you back."

"You realize that we're running out of warriors, Hiccup," the redhead commented.

"You can't be planning to fight it," Snotlout said.

The brown-haired boy got quiet. They did not have too many more options. Maybe it would not be so terrible to fight this beast. He just had to be creative. It was unsurprising to him that his friends hated the idea.

"Nope, not doing that," Dagur stated. "If I have to get your soul from Hades too, Charon's going to ban me from ever entering the Underworld again. The next time one of you died, it would be permanent."

"We have to do something, though."

Hiccup frowned as Toothless let out a whinny.

"Is something wrong, Bud?"

Snotlout nodded. "Yes, something's wrong. We have an unkillable, hungry lion."

"Snotlout, hold on. I think there's something else."

"What else?"

Hiccup let Toothless guide him on where they would fly. To his surprise, he was not going towards the lion. He was flying towards the homes again. Hookfang and Sleuther flew after the horse. They could not help but notice that the lion was following them too.

"Um, not to question our dear Toothless," Snotlout commented, "but isn't the goal to not lead the lion towards Nemea?"

"There's got to be another threat if he's taking us this way."

Dagur squinted up ahead of them then pointed. "You're right. I see it. There's a herd of minotaurs."

Near the entrance of Nemea, there stood the herd. One had a long scar over his face.

"Finally, someone we can actually do some damage to," Snotlout said, grinning.

The team flew closer, Snotlout and Dagur dismounting to fight with the beasts. Even in this state, Dagur was able to flip a minotaur over his shoulder and into a tree with enough force to knock him out. Snotlout drew his ax, going after the leader of the herd. He had nearly cut off the minotaur's hind legs when he heard the sound of running. The Nemean lion was approaching fast. Every member of the team was worried about the other. They could not afford to lose someone again. It could have been too much for their group to bear. Fortunately, this was not what the Fates had planned. The Nemean lion tackled the herd's leader, biting into his shoulder. Despite the minotaur's attempts to fight, he was no match.

After their initial shock, the group of friends continued to fight off the minotaurs. With the lion's help, they disposed of the attackers quickly. When the last minotaur fell, the friends regarded the lion unsurely. They were not sure what they expected him to do. Somehow, he still surprised them. The beast just started walking away. His work was done. Before he could leave, he glanced up at the sky. The cousins turned away again as Zeus returned. He looked at the animal, corpses, and team.

"See?" Dagur said, crossing his arms. "We help different places out."

"How did you know the lion wasn't the real threat?"

Dagur gestured to Toothless. "He knew the minotaurs were here."

"And you trusted a horse?"

"He's part of the team too."

Stoick's expression was thoughtful. His gaze landed on the lion again. The beast was intrigued by the newcomer, never having seen one appear so suddenly. He approached Stoick and sniffed the god's hand.

"You've been away from mortals for too long," Dagur commented.

The king nearly looked annoyed by the remark. Still, he could not say for certain the other immortal was wrong.

"We've all got an animal friend," Dagur added. "Maybe you need one too."

"You want me to have a pet?" Stoick asked, brow raised.

"I want you to understand why I'm doing this. It's different when you get to know someone who's not going to be around as long as you are."

In surprise, Stoick heard a sincere note in the immortal's voice. He could count on one hand the number of times he had seen the war god be serious about anything.

"I didn't leave the meeting to insult you," the smaller redhead admitted. "It's not why I went to Hades either. These mortals…you get sorta attached to them after a while. I didn't want them to die any sooner than they had to."

The lion went over to Stoick again. He gave into patting his mane.

"He's a strong animal," the god complimented. "I suppose that if I were to spend time with one, he'd be fine."

Dagur let out a quick laugh. "That's the spirit. Does it mean we're cool?"

"No."

"You're harsh, Zeus."

"But," the king added, "I accept your reason for leaving." Stoick paused. "You do seem different, Ares. I'm not sure if it's because of them or if you're just being deceitful, but there's a change. I won't deny that. Until I know more, I'll forget the meeting incident. If I learn anything else about you being suspicious, don't expect such mercy."

His threat made the atmosphere thick with tension. Snotlout found himself wondering if he could cut through it easier than the lion's hide.

"What are you going to name him?" he blurted out.

Stoick eyed the boy curiously, then looked back at Dagur. He shrugged.

"We like naming them. It's fun."

Sighing, the king looked back at the lion. "He's as tough as his skin, going through all this to help a city who only feared him. If he wanted to, he could've killed any of them. I'll visit him here." A pensive look crossed his face. "Skullcrusher. That's what I'll name him."

"Yeah, that makes sense for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Stoick asked, eyes narrowing.

Before their friend could mess anything up himself more, the cousins went forward, tugging Dagur back with them.

"Thanks for considering this, Zeus," Hiccup said, bowing his head again.

Snotlout bowed as well and the king regarded them for a moment longer before leaving.

"He's really gone this time," Dagur assured them.

The boys stood back up. Snotlout turned to Dagur, appearing curious.

"Why didn't you tell him who you suspected?"

"Because he's too close to Poseidon. If I told him, it would get out. We can't risk that. It's bad enough without Poseidon and Hades thinking we're onto them."

"But it sounds like he still suspects you," Hiccup pointed out.

"He probably always has deep down." Dagur laughed too brightly for what he was saying. "At least if nothing changes, the others won't get suspicious."

"I guess that's true," Snotlout commented. He glanced towards the home. "Let's go back to tell the others that they don't need to fear Skullcrusher."

"Not sure that name will help," Hiccup mentioned.

His friends agreed, but there was nothing they could change. Keeping the Nemean lion in between them to prevent the people from immediately seeing him, they returned. Another person was peeking out of his home and grinned happily.

"They're back!"

The crowd ran out to the heroes, offering many thanks.

"You're welcome," Hiccup said. "But we have to tell you that the lion wasn't a danger."

Snotlout gestured to Skullcrusher. "He was trying to protect you from a herd of minotaurs that wanted to invade Nemea."

Moving aside, the cousins showed them the beast. Instinctively, the people jumped back. Regardless, they could not ignore the words of the heroes. Cautiously, one of them approached the lion. Skullcrusher let her touch his mane. This helped the others feel more comfortable and they grinned, thanking the lion as well. The cousins started to move away from the group.

"Now, we have to figure out where else to go," Dagur said, tapping his chin.

"Now, we have to return to Berk," Hiccup corrected. "Just until you've fully healed. This fight could've gone a lot worse if Skullcrusher wasn't nice."

Snotlout nodded, looking just as much in agreement as the animals were. Dagur was horribly outvoted. Pouting, he crossed his arms and huffed. Sleuther wasted no time in putting him on his back again. Once they returned, he worried the chimera would try to keep him on bedrest permanently. It seemed like he would never leave the hut. Finally, the rest of the team went over to him.

"Has it been a decade yet?" Dagur asked, squinting. "You both aged well."

"Dagur, it's been two days."

"Two very long days, Hiccup. It's boring in here and Strykie's not the best conversationalist."

"Well, we have something that might interest you," Snotlout revealed, grinning.

The redhead lifted an eyebrow. "What?"

"Come see for yourself," Hiccup encouraged, also smiling.

Sleuther leapt off of Dagur and the immortal left the home. He followed the cousins down to the center of Berk. When he got there, his eyes widened. He stood in stunned silence.

"It's your own temple," Hiccup said. "We know how nice it's been feeling to get recognized for helping out at different places. It's not fair that you don't yet. So, hopefully this'll change it."

"Besides," Snotlout added, "it doesn't seem right to make a big deal about other cities having your temples and not building one ourselves. What kinds of friends would we be?"

Dagur was still quiet as he stared at the structure.

"What do you think?" Hiccup inquired.

In response, he heard a giddy laugh. A wide smile spread over the war god's face.

"I love it! Thanks!"

Eagerly, he went to look around the building. The cousins were happy to show him where everything was located. They were as excited about it as he was. There was just something about mortals. It was possible that they enjoyed life more because they knew it was fleeting. Any day could be the last, so they each had to count. Zeus might never know exactly how it is to befriend one, but it would only help him if he did. That was the sole way to understand why Dagur could not just ignore the cousins in their time of need. Godhood was forever, but friendship could not be abandoned, even if it was founded in mortality.

In mythology, the Nemean Lion was supposedly raised by Hera, so at least now, the family pet is back. Unfortunately, the goal was for it to terrorize the hills of Nemea. The parentage is surprisingly confusing. Sometimes, the lion is a child of Typhon, Selene who threw him from the moon, or Orthus and an ambiguous mom. Heracles's first labor of twelve was to slay the Nemean lion. In the story, Heracles went to the town, Cleonae, and found a boy who told him that if he slayed the Nemean lion and returned in 30 days, the town would sacrifice a lion to Zeus. If he failed, the boy would sacrifice himself. A little extreme, but these myths normally are. A less dramatic version had Heracles meet the shepherd, Molorchos, who had lost his son to the lion. In 30 days again, he said he'd either sacrifice a ram to Zeus or to Hades to mourn the dead, depending on whether or not Heracles returned. Like here, the skin was impenetrable. So, the arrows Heracles planned to use failed. He wound up finding the lion's two entrance-having cave. After blocking one, Heracles forced it to come through the other side. He used the darkness to stun the beast, then strangled it with his bare hands. Despite the skin not being any less impenetrable than before, Heracles still tried to cut through it. Athena felt bad for the guy and had him use one of the lion's claws to skin it and wear the pelt. This is how he got his signature outfit. Also, as a quick side note. Ares did have a temple in Athens, so yay about that. It was aptly named the Temple of Ares. Pretty on the nose, but considering the struggle I have coming up with names, I get it.